The Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OTA update for Galaxy Nexus (GSM/HSPA+) started rolling out back in late March but only for a handful of users. The OTA update has been pushed to most Galaxy Nexus with product name as ‘yakju’, but still a lot of Google updated Galaxy Nexus haven’t got it as these updates are region specific. It should be noted that devices with yakju product code are updated directly by Google while the non-yakju ones are applicable to receive updates from Samsung which are apparently delayed by a couple of weeks. So, if you cant wait for the Galaxy Nexus OTA Android 4.0.4 update anymore, then you can opt to manually install the update.

Google has officially released the “yakju” factory images for Galaxy Nexus “maguro” (GSM/HSPA+) which are meant to be flashed manually only on yakju version. However, there is a 100% working trick to Install the official Android 4.0.4 yakju update on any non-yakju version (yakjuxw, yakjuux, yakjusc, yakjuzs, yakjudv, yakjukr and yakjujp) of Galaxy Nexus. This will also change your Galaxy Nexus from non-yakju to yakju, which is indeed good as your device would then be eligible to receive official OTA updates directly from Google and Not Samsung.

Disclaimer: Try this guide at your own risk! We wont be responsible in case your device gets bricked. This may also void your warranty.

NOTE:

1. This process requires to unlock bootloader which will wipe/factory reset your phone.
2. Your phone should have Official Stock firmware running and Not a custom ROM.
3. Your Galaxy Nexus device name should be maguro (See how to check that)
4. This procedure is meant only for GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus.

– Extract this .tgz file to your desktop using archive program like WinRAR. Then rename this file and add a .zip extension to it. Extract the file to a folder on your desktop. Then open the folder and extract the file (image-yakju-imm76i.zip) to the same folder.

Step 5 – Installing Android 4.0.4 and Flashing the ‘YAKJU’ Firmware

1. Enable USB Debugging on your phone and connect it to computer via USB. (Make sure it is charged.)

2. Open Galaxy Nexus Root Toolkit (Run as Administrator), select your device model (CDMA or GSM) and click on ‘List devices’ to verify that the connection is stable. Then select the ‘fastboot-bootloader’ option and click on ‘Reboot Bootloader’.

3. Your phone should now boot into Bootloader mode. Get ready for flashing!

To flash the Image files that you extracted in Step 4, select the ‘Flash (Permanent)’ option from the Galaxy Nexus Root Toolkit. Next,

– Click on the System option and select ‘system.img’ file from the folder yakju-imm76d. (The flashing will start, wait until you see a finished notification in CMD)

– Click on Userdata option and select ‘userdata.img’.

– Click on Boot option and select ‘boot.img’.

– Similarly, click on recovery and select ‘recovery.img’.

Update – It’s advisable to flash the new radio (baseband) and new bootloader as well.

Your device should now boot up normally and present up with the new Android 4.0.4 update and ‘yakju’ firmware that will offer prompt updates directly from Google. You can confirm the product version using the ‘GN updater checker’ app. Restore the backup that you created in step 2 to get back all your installed apps along with their data.

What’s new in 4.0.4 – The latest Android 4.0.4 update for Galaxy Nexus offers stability improvements, better camera performance, smoother screen rotation, improved phone number recognition and more. We also noticed a significant improvement in battery life after upgrading to 4.0.4.

Enjoy the more awesome Ice Cream Sandwich on your GNex now! 😀

P.S. We’ve tried the above tutorial on our Galaxy Nexus and it worked perfectly. Do let us know if you face any issues while going through the described process.

If you followed this guide earlier to update your Galaxy Nexus from Non-Yakju to Yakju, then you must have got the Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean OTA update on your phone. Unfortunately, the update install will fail if you’ve NOT flashed the XXLA2 radio/baseband on your 4.0.4 yakju.

To fix this, simply use the toolkit again to Flash ONLY the Radio ‘radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img’ and Bootloader ‘bootloader-maguro-primela03.img’ (steps updated above and these files should be on your PC). You don’t need to erase the cache after flashing them. Next, clear Google services framework to force check for update. (Settings > Apps > Google Services Framework > Clear data). Then power off and power on, check for system updates again and the Jelly Bean 4.1.1 OTA update should pop-up. 🙂

Note: For automated installation of OTA updates, your device should NOT be Rooted and should NOT be running Custom Recovery (CWM) or any custom ROM.

Mayur Agarwal is the founder and editor-in-chief of WebTrickz. As a Technology enthusiast and an Internet addict, he loves sharing useful How To’s and Tips & Tricks. Follow him @mayurjango on Twitter where he is extremely active.

296 Responses

I just did exactly everything as you described and I checked that I have the same version for this kind of update but it didn’t work with me. after I opened the CMD command at last and then I rebooted, my device rebooted but never opened.
it looks like it’s rebooting and that it will open but in fact it never does!
I will try to restore my phone if it is possible at all!
I will give another feedback

It worked!!
The problem was that i did what you wrote literally , which means, you didn’t mention to click on the other stuff to load them in to your device, you just said “Similarly, click on recovery and select ‘recovery.img’”.
Maybe and I guess it is actually obvious to do so, but as i said, I wanted to follow you exactlly to the word coz I didnt want to mess anything up.
Anyways, It worked and I have 4.0.4 android IMM76D, Yakju!!!!!
I must say that you are the ONLY website which is doing this fro the international version GT i9250 yakujuxw.
All other websites are busy helping out the sprint and the verizon version (US devices) and they forgot about the millions who have international version.
Thank You very much YOU ARE THE BEST!!
Ps. that toolkit man gave me a big headache!! when i run it as administrator, it loads perfectly, then it does only one thing you ask it to do and then it doesn’t react anymore !! I have to close it with task manager and then restart my laptop and do it again and again and again!!
but at the end it worked 🙂
Cheers and greetings from Dubai!

Thanks for your comment and I’m glad to hear that you finally managed to do it perfectly. Yes, the toolkit is giving problems here too. It stops responding after doing initial task. I also had to force quit it and then re-open. Now wait for the latest IMM76I OTA update that might appear on your device soon. 🙂

I wanted to root my phone back as I lost my root but I’m having big problems 🙁
I’m trying to use the kit because I rooted my device months ago using the kit and it worked that time.
now, I did everything to root but I got this screen during the root on the kit http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/khaled617/CMD.png
I think there is a problem.
After I finished everything, I installed Rom manager to flash clockwork mod but when I look at the progress bar, it goes all the way down until almost the end and then it freezes and it says an error occurred.
I repeated this action a few times and always the same. I also reset my phone to factory setting to wipe out anything bad that maybe was written and causing the problem but again the same.
I downloaded rootchecker and always it gives me a message saying that my system is running very slow then it tells me my device is not rooted.
I repeated the root method few times but always the same.
should I do the whole process again?? I mean trying to install 4.0.4 etc…
my phone model as you know is not anymore YAKJUXW so would it work if i repeat the process?
what should i do now???

There was no problem actually as you felt and the screen you saw is a part of rooting process. When rooting using this toolkit, the CWM recovery is first flashed on your device and then you’ve manually install the SU.zip to root the phone as described. Also, you don’t have to install ROM manager to flash CWM as you’ve already flashed it via toolkit. I also tried to flash CWM via ROM Manager but it didn’t worked, only half of its functions work.

Update: Just verified if my phone is rooted and surprised to see it’s NOT. Seems you’re right in your last comment. 🙂

The problem was is in the su.zip file which was pushed in to my device!!
I found the a one with a fix for the 4.0.4 from Galaxynexusforums and here is the link for download (box.com/s/jvcf196j7x8f8vrc9cyt)
I just deleted the old su.zip file, rebooted in to clock recovery mode, wiped cache and delvica and then reinstalled the su.zip and after system rebooting, i flashed with rom manager and it worked 🙂
Now I have another question, I have a nand back up which I made 2 days ago and saved it on my computer, Can i install it back using rom manager?? I have my system backed up there but then I had 4.0.2 and now I have 4.0.4 wouldn’t that be a problem?
thx

About my earlier question “nandroidbackup”, I put manually my old backup in to my device via usb cable, then I opened Titanic Backup “pro version” and at the very bottom there is “More”, click on it, and then chose extract from nandroidbackup !!
It’s much better then the backup I made with toolkit because not all apps had their data with it.

Gr8 going dude, you seem pretty smart with a good Android experience. 🙂 I though liked the Backup/restore ICS feature done via toolkit as it’s easy to carry out and doesn’t requires any 3rd party apps. Recommended for newbies!

I’ve no idea about the OTA updates. Yes, this will work on yakjujp GSM/HSPA (maguro) version too. If you’re good with such technical stuff, then I don’t think you need to think over it. This process requires unlocking (one time task), after which you can flash any stock update or custom ROM easily on your GNex without waiting. I’d advice you to proceed as I’m sure your device doesn’t has Indian warranty. 🙂

I’m following your tutorial step by step and I’m at the point to make a backup now with the root-toolkit and I’m stuck. Everything seems fine, the device is listed, all driver tests are successful, etc. BUT when ‘im going to start the backup the following happens: First all seems to be like in your tutorial, the toolkit offers me to choose a path for the backup-file, the 3 following command-lines open too as described after I choose the recommended options. Even the backup window in the phone pops up and offers me to enter a pw for the backup. Then the backup starts but stops within 5 seconds (saying it was succesful and backup finished) BUT the backup-file on the desktop has 0 byte. ayn idea? Thx in advance Frank

Yes, this process is meant for Yakjuxw running 4.0.2. I’m not sure about updates though they should install directly as long as you don’t have a custom ROM installed. For me, it showed OTA update but I was unable to install it directly. That may be because I installed ClockworkMod Recovery and rooted the device. Manually installation is also very easy via CWM.

So u guys have no idea why my back up process is finished after 3-4 seconds (stating that is has finished – no error message at all) and the backup-file keeps being empty. Tried on 3 pcs now. Must be something on the phone, no frigging idea what. yakjuxw/4.0.2 atm

KK, too bad. Very strange that it doesn’t work on my phone. I may try Moborobo to backup apps and settings. Will the restore work with the new firmware then?
BTW: Here is the output from th backup cmd – resulting in an empty backup file /shrug:

Backup script…
——————————————————————

– Hold your device in your hand and make sure the screen is on:

– If you wait too long after you initiate the backup, it won’t actually
work, so make sure you are ready to do it.

– The adb backup interface will pop up and ask you to make a password
for your backup.

What should I say? NOW it fucking works. I’m happy. 🙂 I tried a different password – a standard pw I often use, and it suddenly worked. What brought me to that idea: The backup popup on the phone says somethg like one should use the same pw that was used to encrypt the phone (BUT I never encrypted the phone) so I have chosen a random pw so far. BUT I may have set a pw for encrpytion in the past in the security settings screen but never encrypted it thereafter (the encrpytion setting doesn’t ask for a pw anymore but just wants to start encrpytion when I click on it so the pw is probably already stored there and the backup app simply needs the same one that is stored there). Backup works like a charm now but only with this special pw. There we go with flashing. Thx so far.

I followed your tutorial and flashed 4.04 on my samsung maguro yakjuxw. Everything went fine till the time i entered the cmd command “fastboot reboot”. It did reboot and is in the process of doing so for a long time.

All i see is the google icon in the black blackground and nothing else is happening.

I think that i have screwed up my phone. I am not a techie but good with fiddling around. However it seems that I have encountered an issue here.

Please help. This is the first smartphone I ever bought and just wanted to bring it to google stock build. Your help will be deeply appreciated.

That means you’ve successfully completed all the above steps listed before “fastboot reboot” command at last? Try booting into the bootloader/fastboot mode by holding Volume Up + Down key and power key simultaneously after turning off the device. From within bootloader, Start your phone or try Recovery mode (choose Factory reset option there) if that doesn’t works.

I have been trying this entire morning but didnt’ seem to work. I flashed my device again and it was my error. I unplugged the device a lot earlier after fastboot reboot. Should have let it remain plugged as some device driver is installed.

Upon going through the process again the phone has rebooted and I am currently restoring the apps and data backup. Will check with app the build and everything.

Hopefully it should work fine now. I will update later.

Thanks for this tutorial and the quick reply. I have been up since 6 and trying to figure out everything. Guess success has come my way

First of all thanks for all the time and effort you have taken to give an in detail guide to share this knowledge. I am from Sri Lanka and I bought my Galaxy Nexus (this is the GSM/HSPA+ unlocked international version) two weeks back thru Amazon. This is my first smart phone. Amazing phone except for the battery. I haven’t done any rooting or anything but I can perfectly carry out the processes you have clearly described (really appreciate what you have done).

After using the phone I figured that it’s a “Maguro” device with the “yakjuxe” build (the back cover of the phone says nTT-Docomo SC-04D). It’s still in the 4.0.1 version. A few times the phone notified that a system update is available and when I proceeded with it it seemed to update with the phone rebooting with an Android being repaired kinda animation. But after rebooting and checking the version it’s still on 4.0.1 🙁 (I tried this both thru Wi-Fi and 3G).

My questions:

1. Can I take the above steps you have mentioned to flash my phone to “yakju” build while my phone is currently on 4.0.1 “yakjuxe”? – I’m asking this because throughout the article I came across “yakjuxw”, “yakjujp”, etc. but not “yakjuxe”. And also please tell me whether being on 4.0.1 is an issue to flash it to “yakju” because I read elsewhere it has to be on 4.0.2.

2. Without flashing to “yakju”, can I instead go ahead and flash it with a custom ROM like AOKP which is on 4.0.4? (I know that it’s personal preference but do u suggest this is better?)

3. If I flash it with a custom ROM like AOKP, when Google rolls out a new update (i.e. 4.0.5 or Jelly Bean or whatever) will I be able to just update it through the phone to the newer version while being in that ROM? (just as a normal OTA update without having root and all)

Please take some time free time to answer my questions, and thank you in advance! This article is one of the best in detail step by step guides I have come across. And I can’t to wait to try it out after you answer my questions.

Hi Suhas, glad you liked our guide. Here are some answers to your queries. But before proceeding, check if your recovery is working by normally booting into fastboot bootloader. After doing some research, it seems yakjuxe build has a broken recovery which stuck phone at Google logo after rebooting. If it’s broken then you’ve to flash the Recovery image in package as well.

1. Yes, it’d work on yakjuxe if it’s an Unlocked GSM Maguro device as stated by you. You can update directly from 4.0.1 to 4.0.4 by flashing the official 4.0.4 (IMM76I) FULL ROM.

2. That might be possible after unlocking your device but I wont suggest to go for AOKP. Better to wait for CM9. If you want to proceed, then check at XDA.

3. You CANT install any OTA update while using any custom ROM. You can do it manually by flashing the update using ClockworkMod Recovery.

Please be sure and clear about everything before customizing your device.

Finally found why my nexus would not update. Many thanx for this manual. When i finished in work i will try it.
Maybe one recommendation: Turn off/uninstall you antivirus app on PC. As i can see you didn’t mention in your manual but i think sometimes can do it some troubles.

Had only a problem with the data backup: file is empty and I noticed after wiping the phone 🙁 Anyway, not too much of a big deal since i backed up manually photos, music, etc. and Google Play re-push your apps to your phone after a factory reset. Totally worth the hassle since i’m now a Yakju! Yahoo!

Pleaaas help me :). I did every steps without any issues. Now i’m on step:
Step 5 – Installing Android 4.0.4 and Flashing the ‘YAKJU’ Firmware
But if i pushed on ‘Reboot Bootloader’ just nothing happend. I try facotry reset. I still have “unlock” character when nexus booting. But situation still same after push
‘Reboot Bootloader’ nothing happend. Any idea?

I have a yakjuzs device. Will this work on my nexus too??? And are you sure that yakju will get the updates before any other yakju** device? I just want to be 100% sure before I do anything to my nexus.

This worked for me! Thanks very much for laying out these instructions.

I have a question, though: after the conversion & update is completed, is it safe to re-lock the bootloader using the “OEM Lock” tool in GNex Root Toolkit? I tried clicking on it, but it said I have to “Flash Stock + Unroot” first. But the yakju rom is already a stock rom so, um… it should work? Right?

Thanx for an amazing guide. Helped me and everything went well. Just one questions don’t I need to lock my bootloader again. Not really sure about this. But what is the difference between locking the boatloader and not locking it?

Having an Unlocked Bootloader has many advantages like – You can manually install any official updates, root the device, install Custom ROMs, kernels and thus customize the device entirely as needed. Unlocking bootloader voids your device warranty though, but if your device encounters some hardware issue then you can lock its bootloader back before handling it to service center.

I think it’ll remain yakju only, provided you DON’T use the GNex toolkit to lock it. Simply use the command fastboot oem lock but it’s advisable to re-lock when you need to return the device to the store.

{Extract this .tgz file to your desktop using archive program like WinRAR. Then rename this file and add a .zip extension to it. Extract the file to a folder on your desktop. Then open the folder and extract the file (image-yakju-imm76d.zip) to the same folder.
Download Fastboot and ADB files (XDA) – Extract the files to the same folder (fastboot-and-adb) on your desktop.}

I didn’t understand this point. Like i am extracting this .tgz file to my desktop and rename (what name should i give?) then extract image-yakju-imm76d.zip to same folder which i have renamed then download fastboot and adb files and extract to same folder (which folder? that i renamed)

One more thing when my phone comes in Bootloader mode in the screen in last it states “Lock State Locked” but in your screenshot it is mention it is unlocked, should i proceed in that state only or there is some problem

At the time of installing driver when Android ADB Device driver has installed and when iam testing that is last step “Select ‘fastboot–bootloader’ under Quick tools and click on the ‘Reboot Bootloader’ option. If the device boots into Fastboot mode” my device is unable to boots into Fastboot mode. My GNex is YAKJUJP

That’s the simplest way I could explain it. You simply need to add a .zip extension to file in order to extract it. To do do, rename it to yakju-imm76i-factory-8001e72f.zip Then extract yakju-imm76i.zip to the folder yakju-imm76i (Refer this image http://goo.gl/DAStK). You need to extract ‘fastboot-and-adb’ (platform-tools-v19.zip) file on desktop, refer to image in Step 4.

{Extract this .tgz file to your desktop using archive program like WinRAR. Then rename this file and add a .zip extension to it. Extract the file to a folder on your desktop. Then open the folder and extract the file (image-yakju-imm76d.zip) to the same folder.
Download Fastboot and ADB files (XDA) – Extract the files to the same folder (fastboot-and-adb) on your desktop.}

hi mayur. i don’t exactly get this point? when u extraxt the file to dekstop, shouldnt the file be folder? and also how can u just add (.zip) to the folder and extract it again?

also for this part [Download Fastboot and ADB files (XDA) – Extract the files to the same folder (fastboot-and-adb) on your desktop.}]

Hi Mayur…First of all thanks for your great site – as a result of which I was able to easily update my Galaxy Nexus from yakjujp (4.0.2) to yakju (4.0.4). I’m sure you would’ve read about this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1669190 to get all the S3 goodies on a Galaxy Nexus. Does it make sense to flash a CM9 ROM (4.03) and go for this or can this be done over the yakju (4.0.4)?

i did the steps that you describe but when i reboot it dosnt reboot correctlly.
It is stuck to google logo.
Can somebody please help how to get away from this.
or how can i reinstall it because when i try to do it, the toolkit dosnt found it as a phone.

Hi Mayur!
I just wanted to know before I do upgrade if there is a reason why you didn´t flash radios, and if there is a issue with lost signal problem after update to 4.0.4? Web if full of reports about this issue.
Thanks in advance

1) Very happy I found this guide as many of them are only for Verizon
2) Since there is a newer version of the toolkit & it appears as though part of ‘Step 4’ is no longer necessary, an updated guide would be great because there are some awkward descriptions; especially in the backup guide when it comes to backing up apps. I wasn’t really sure if the directions were telling me that I should do it or that I shouldn’t.

I haven’t gone through the unlock process yet as I want to make sure that I’m doing things correctly; but according to the other comments, it seems to be working fine. Thanks again for the guide & I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Another quick question. I wanted to disconnect my phone from my pc after steps 1 & 2 but I couldn’t eject it properly so I disabled ‘USB Debugging’ and it proceeded to install other drivers for my phone. I’m assuming that these are the original drivers so my question is; do I have to go through step 1 all over again? The ‘Drivers’ option is no longer available when I open the toolkit so is it possible or even necessary to go through step 1 again? I’m using v.1.4 of the toolkit.

Hi all, glad to find this page. Im sad to only now realize the reason why my update never came…im have a GN Yakjuwx 🙁 Bought GNexus just because of the google updates and now a realize none will come.Tanks for nothing Google.
So first of all tanks Mayur for beeing so helpfull for all of us resolving this problem.
Im scare of doing this operation because in new at android, so i dont understand NOTHING… I dont now what means “root” or “rooting” and “flashing”…Seems everything complicated to me, so many steps just for upgrading.
I have some questions for you, before i try to update my GNexus.
1-Will i loose everything, like photos, music and especcialy apps, when i do this operation ?
Is there no backup available?
Sony for example did the upgrade to all sony Xperias with no backup.
2- What is rooting and flashing? How do i know if my “ROM” is costum or official Stock?
Thks for everything

Forget about the “backup” question because i read the guide and its explain.
But 1 huge problem….GN toolkit v1.3 no longer available to download.Only v1.4 and its diferent .So your explanation with the screen is no longer equal, which for a guy like me that dont understand much , can be a problem…Some terms are diferent in the v1.3 and v1.4

Order of buttons is same in both version, compare with the screenshot. Flash in order as stated in the post. You can flash the radio and bootloader .img files afterwards (reboot required after flashing one file).

Yes, it solves the problem 🙂 I really want to update but im to nervous because i dont understand the terms.What is rooting and why do we ned to do it? And what do i need to unlock.I bought my phone unlocked.Sorry about the newbie questions but im a android user going 1 month

I am having a very difficult time trying to get things working with this guide and the tools. I previously started the process and it was going smoothly and then I stopped the process after steps 1 & 2 with version 1.4 of the toolkit. Now every time I try to go through the process I can’t seem to configure the ADB. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the program and device drivers; but each time I connect my device (in USB Debugging), my pc automatically installs the drivers and I am unable to go any further in the process. I have tried to unlock thinking that it must already think I’ve gone through step 1 and I never see a serial number in the command box so I cannot go any further that way. I’ve put my device back to factory specs and the same thing happens. Any ideas?

Please ignore my 2 previous posts. I’ve finally gotten it unlocked and am just waiting for it to be fully charged (as per guide) and then I plan to flash the sh*t out of it. Thanks for the guide and for uploading version 1.3 of the toolkit.

I went to begin flashing my device and have hit a bit of a snag. My device is listed when I click “List Devices” in v.1.3; but when I select “Fastboot – Bootloader” and click “Reboot Bootloader” nothing happens and I have to end the process because the program got stuck and would not close. I read that someone else had this problem and I followed the suggested fix. I even restarted my pc but to no avail. I thought that maybe I could get around that issue by installing v.1.4 and go into the advanced settings to reboot the bootloader. It says on my pc screen that the phone is being rebooted into bootloader mode but nothing happens on my phone. Did I miss a step? Is there anything else I can be doing? Thank you in advance.

Also, I can reboot bootloader when “adb – phone on” is selected. The phone is unlocked but I do not see the “Fastboot Status” on the bootloader screen. Should that be there? If so, what may I have done wrong?

If you’re unable to boot into Bootloader aka Fastboot mode using the toolkit then follow other alternative. Simply turn off your phone, then hold Volume Up + Down key and power key simultaneously to boot into bootloader.

I found out that my Galaxy Nexus is a yakjuxw version and will only receive 4.0.4 update much later. Ran a search and found this guide to change from yakjuxw to yakju version which allows me to update to 4.0.4 and also receive future updates directly from Google.

From the guide, I learned how to use Wug’s Galaxy Nexus Root Toolkit. It is really easy to use with the GUI even though the guide was referring to version 1.3 (I used 1.4). I successfully changed to yakju and updated to 4.0.4.

However, I would like to share a moment in the process where it became really frightening for me because I thought I bricked the phone. I followed the guide and everything went smoothly to the point of unlocking the bootloader. Then, when I reached the steps to flash the img files, after flashing the system and user data without any issues, the connection became unstable and I was not able to see the device at Fastboot – Bootloader and the device was no longer listed as in the previous steps. The phone just showed the Google text with the unlocked icon.

Being a newbie, I panicked and did not know what to do. I thought I bricked my phone which I just bought last week. I tried to run the manual driver update again to get back the connection, but this time, it did not work. It always fail to detect the device and listed only Samsung MTP which also failed to install properly.

After many rounds of trying, I pulled out the battery and tried to reboot and here I made a big mistake with the volume and power buttons, and ended up in odin mode. I panicked again because I had no knowledge what this was. I just pressed the big green Start text and it went back to he Google text with the unlocked icon.

I forgotten that to reboot to the bootloader, I had to hold down both the volume buttons. I pressed only the volume down button. Finally, by trial and error, I remembered and got into the bootloader again. When this happened, I was able to run the manual driver setup steps and restored the connection. But, when I flashed the recovery img, the connection was lost again and I had to run steps 6-8 of the driver setup again to restore connection and continued flashing the boot img.

When this was completed, the phone rebooted and my Nexus was changed from yakjuxw to yakju version with 4.0.4 installed. Thank God! Everything worked perfectly and Google immediately sent me an email for the activation of the device.

Everything worked out great in the end. I’m now happily running 4.0.4. Now I just want to root it for some apps that require rooting and I’ll be ready to rock. Thanks again. Do you have a rooting guide?

Rooting is very easy, flash CWM and then install superuser to root it. Actually, v1.3 has a buggy su.zip file integrated that’s why it didn’t worked. There is an updated su.zip that worked. Anyways, you’ve nicely done also the technical steps. BRAVO! 🙂

Thanks Mayur, great job…
But one question, is the phone “rooted” right after the update?
Does it install the original downloaded files from google or modifies them? I mean some kind of “SuperUser” or something else added by the root toolkit to the OS.
I’m so concerned on the performance after the update. As i have two Galaxy Nexus, one with yakju (OTA 4.0.4) and one with yakjujp. I wonder if the yakjujp would be as great as the original yakju.

You’ve to root it manually and rooting has nothing to do with updating to 4.0.4. SuperUser is installed in the process of rooting, nothing to worry about it. You need to grant SuperUser permissions to apps that require it. Upgrading to yakju won’t make any effect on device performance. It’ll just receive updates from Google than Samsung.

Thanks, quick reply!
I see… we have to root in order to do this, But after this procedure is the phone in “rooted” status or has to “unroot” it?
I found that the bootloader will be in the unlock state. No problem there.
I do hate “root” as i got my xperia, stock after some kind of….

Hey mayur …First of all thanks for the entire process…starting from step 1…
Justed wanted to ask that from where have got this method….coz in no place i have found about “changing the built from samsung to google”…??
This is the only place where i could find this.

in the toolkit v1.4 there is a an option to set your devise to de original version (4.0.4), so i took off the battery, pluged in the battery and hold both volume buttons, then press power button, this way i got to the fastboot mode, from here you can follow the istructions on “back to stock” with option “can`t boot up”, when this finishes your phone will be ready with android 4.0.4

Well, did the drivers installation ok, then the backup and then the unlock.
When i was starting to flash i cannot fo into fastboot and reboot. Toolkit doenst do anything and my phone stays the same…Everithing went well in installing the ddrivers, even testing them with reboot on fastboot…now even with installing the drivers again the reboot on fastboot doenst work…If i do it manualy does it still recognizes the phone? Thats me fear ..

Chris how did you manage the fastboot -reboot bootloader issue? Im have the same problem here….everything went well…but when i go to reboot the bootloader on fastboot it doest’n work…even in v1.4 .Im using Window XP. After that i cant no more configure my drivers in bootloader mode…
Any suggestions or ideas anyone?

Well even configurating the drivers in fastboot and saying everything is ok , and the phone appears in the device manager, when i go to fastboot to flash the phone dissapears imediatly from de the device manager and the toolkit v1.4 says “waiting for device” .Ive already restarted my PC and Phone like 20 times…and installed the drivers 10 times and nothing….
anyaway thks for the help

Hi
Kindly note that i followed all your step and everyhing seems to be working ,
but when i start with step 5 . Click on the System option and select ‘system.img’ file from the folder yakju-imm76d.
I got this message sending ‘system’ … and nothing happen for more then 3 hours and suddenly the pc turned off and the Phone refuse to start it’s stuck on google screen and keep vibrating…
Any Help
Regards

Mayur, its on USB debugging because if it didnt i wasnt abble to configure the drivers, backing up and unlock the bootloader…things i ive done with sucess…
Only when is goes on reboot on fastboot, the “android” phone dissapears from the device manager, that why it doesnt work. Its drives issues on fastboot. One thing is true, i cant open toolkit on administrator because i didnt configureted the PC that way on the beginnig and now it does start like admin. I have windows XP SP3 .It says no “blanc password” and when i put some password it says “wrong password or invalid user name” . MAybe thats because i run the WIndows with NON ADMINISTRATOR….do you think its because of that?
Or maybe are the toolkit drivers that arent good for my system.The strange is that when i did all the drivers tests everything works perfectly…:( dissapointing.

See if it’s possible for you to do the same process from starting on a Windows 7 system. Or post your query in this Galaxy Nexus forum thread http://goo.gl/ugAkf , the developer of toolkit might help you out.

I just did this and after the fastboot reboot I got the phone to show the boot animation for ever. What I did wrong was not to wait and flash one at a time so when flashing “system.img” wait untill it completes untill doing the next one “userdata.img” etc
After re-doing this and waiting for each flash to complete the phone started up fine with 4.0.4 🙂

Thks Mayur, i was thinking on doing it on another computer , but i guess i ive no one running W7..only my wife was windows vista on hers… im gonna do what you said, and ask the toolkit developer..Thks for everything and continue helping the guys .

I’ve just downloaded “bigxie_maguro_JRN84D_v2-signed.zip” to flash my phone to 4.1. As I am still a newb, I’m curious if the toolkit and steps outlined here will work to accomplish that? Thanks in advance.

PLEASE HELP I just did this procedure and I just got a text from rogers saying I’m on a $5 preferred rate for long distance. I didn’t add this so my question is am I on roaming now?? After doing these steps? I’m on GSM/HSPA+ rogers Canada.

Looks like a great tutorial and stuff. I was wondering about 2 things.

1. Is there a mac version of this whole guide or is windows the only solution
2. Is there a video guide to this because being the noob i am, it looks ery confusing. If there isnt, is there any chance you could make one.

Hi,
Ive upgrade to 4.04 using your method and succeed. Now I have a problem ith the 4.1 OTA. it failed at the stage “Assert failed:….
E: Error in tmp/sideload/package.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

hey i was going good untill the system file was flashed after that the phone got stuck at google logo and the sequence is to be followed right system-userdata-recovery- radio-bootloader…so i was on just system and it got stuck…pls help i’m on Yakjujp 4.0.2

NO i didnt flash the boot, yes i got confirmation when i flashed system n said press any key to continue..but after that the phone is stuck on google + lock page….please help how to get out of this and get yakju, as i want the jellybean update at earliest

well i have yakjujp and i so want to go to yakju. but the comments here are a bit scary as most of the people here are facing problems during the process !! my qs is that is there a much simpler way of doing this all and i would suggest that a video of the entire process will be more helpfull .
and can someone tell me that what is the meaning that the toolkit stops responding !!
do reply and also tell that is there anyother alternative way of getting yakju??

Oh, Mayur! You are GOD!!! I can’t thank you enough. I followed your post and now downloading Jelly Bean!!! One thing I didn’t understand in your post was at the very last part you wrote to erase the cache of the folder ‘fastboot-and-adb.’ But where is it? I can’t seem to find it. What happens when I erase the cache? Please do reply! If you were here, I’d buy you Kolkata’s Rosogollas! 😉

Thanks for the appreciation. You need to erase the device cache after flashing all the images. This has to be done when your device is in fastboot mode and you’ve to erase cache via cmd. I’ve now updated the guide. Should be easy to figure out! 🙂

mayur it took me time to understand the entire process before doing it. will definetely do all this tomorrow, have prepared everything the folders extractions backup etc !!! i am just confused over the point of clearing cache at the end, as in the options that are present in the above screen shots are not the same as the new version of the kit !!! i would love if you elaborate on clearing cache partition point..

4. Erase the cache partition. This has to be done via CMD.

To erase cache, right-click the folder ‘fastboot-and-adb’ while holding down the Shift key. Click on ‘Open command window here’.

ok i want you to explain me that what do you mean by via cmd as in when i click on cmd which is under the title of manual input the command windows open directly . but the instructions also say that

“To erase cache, right-click the folder ‘fastboot-and-adb’ while holding down the Shift key. Click on ‘Open command window here’.”. the problem is i cannot find this option anywhere as it directly opens the command windows!!!!

last but not the least while flashing the files as mentioned in step4 do i need to wait for some time after i flash every file??? and if at any point i feel that everything has gone wrong and i have messed up , is there anyway to return back??
will love to see your amazing suggestions !!!

If you’re using Windows 7, then you can directly open a specific folder directory in cmd by right-clicking the folder while holding Shift key. I’ve now updated step 5 (point #4), the 2nd last image should clear your doubt. Yes, you need to wait a bit after flashing each file (look for the finished message). You can use OEM Lock option in toolkit to restore the device back to factory state.

“Download Fastboot and ADB platform-tools (XDA) – Extract the files to the same folder (platform-tools-v19) on your desktop.”

i extracted the adb and fastboot file from the above zipped package in to the folder containg the other 4 files !!!

“To erase cache, right-click the folder‘platform-tools-v19’ while holding down the Shift key. Click on ‘Open command window here’.”
now i dont get where did this folder come from ???? as in as i mentioned above that i extracted two files but there was no folder in the package ????
and in the whole process the extracted files from the platform package are not urtilised in any step of the process??

oky okay i got thr cache point , now everything is clear, but as per step 5 my phone is not rebooting into boat loader mode as i click on reboor boatloader , all previous steps have been followed correctly , it keeps on saying “rebooting your device into boatloader mode”, and nothing happens and my phone is still on !!! tried this several times but the same is happening :{{{

hey maiyur i got it yayyyyy….
althouh u dnt knw what i went though afterr flasing each file i had to manualy reboot bootloader i dont know why my phone was booting upppp , ohhhhh goddd it made me crazy , it was not working !!!! i did each and everything perfectlyyy but one thing i did bad was k i might have flashed the system image twice CAN THAT CREATE ISSUE FOR ME????although my phone is working perfectly but in panic i did this bkoz everything was messing up
do reply back

yeah maiyur i was on 4.0.4 when i posted last time . but now i am on android jellybeans… yayyyyyyyy…. thank you so much for helping whenever i posted here… the v4.1 experience is simple superb it is sooper fast, smooth !!!! everything works great !!! had no problem in the ota update processs , everything went perfect !!!!!one very small issue is that i find viber crashing out on jellybeans otherwise no issues at alll and once again thanks alot !!!!!!

and yeah tip for checking the update is keep on clearing the google service framework and then check for the updates , in the second attempt i got the update notifcation !!!

First of all thanks for the article,
I went through all the steps up to flashing the system.img but I did not get any (finished notification in CMD), I did not get that? Will it pop up or what?
The screen gets stuck on the google logo, I though maybe it’s supposed to be like that? I went through with the rest of the steps, but when I tried flashing boot.img I faced a problem while trying to get into bootloader mode, I went back to the driver setup to check my bootloader status but there seems to be a problem! No even ADB devices. My device is now stuck. PLEASE HELP T_T

well maiyur and amal i also had the same issues exactly what i did was that after flashing a file my phone was getting stuck at the google logo !!! so what i did i removed the battery and manually got it in the bootloader mode back again !!! but do make sure you have clicked on the fastboot reboot , then i selected the the other file to flash it checked my fastboat status and then started flashing the second file , similarly i was stuck again on the google logo again i removed the battery and got it back in bootloader again !!! so for all 6 files i had to do this . so to be simple 5 times i was stuck at the google logo , so five times i removed the battery and 5 times i got it in bootloader mode manually !!!!
first i was badly scared when i was stuck at the google logog for the first time but i did all this and everything went smooth

and yeah ato moments when you remove the battery even the google logo will be stuck on the screen fr some time although the battery is removed but wait for it to go and then plug in the battery back !!! i know it sounds scary but what felt that i had no oither option except for doing this !!!1
after the second or 3rd file flash your device will start to open normally but remove the battery at the very moment only and bring it manually to boatloader and keep on flashing . as a check while in boatloader as you have earlier clicked on fastbott reboot click on listed devices !!!

my phone on jellybean is a charm :}}}}}}
improvements that i felt “great performance and smoothness, apart from a little change in camera ui i also find the camera quality improved , betttery battery life , the phone boots up very quickly now , some very normall changes in the user interface , a cool looking notifcation screen , better keyboard.

Hello all. I believe i had followed the instructions carefully and successfully installed yakju 4.0.4. However, when i get the update to jellybean 4.1 I try to install and it seems to fail with verification during recovery mode? This is represented by a green android lying face up with a red triangle around an exclamation mark. What i have read it to flash the baseband/radio and the bootloader. I have done this and no success, still the same red exclamation mark. I am considering following the link to “how to fix broken recovery” by permanent CWM selection in the nexus root toolkit. However it says after installation to jellybean? i don’t believe i have actually installed jelly bean yet as it keeps reverting to ice cream sandwhich after i have tried for the jelly bean update and the red exclamation mark comes up… Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance 🙂

The 4.1 OTA wont auto-install if you’ve CWM recovery installed or are rooted. You need to flash the file via CWM and make sure radio is XXLA2. Upgrade to CWM Touch recovery v5.8.0.2 and then try flashing the update. Hope u succeed! 🙂

I’m having the same OTA problem as gilesian. I followed the original process up to flashing the recovery.img. My phone booted up after I flashed the boot.img, and I had a perfectly good working version of 4.0.4 until I realized I couldn’t update to Jelly Bean. I skipped flashing the recovery.img, because I thought it was a fluke or something. Where do I begin. Should I flash the recovery.img still? Do I just need the XXLA2 radio.img radio? How is that radio different from the radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img you describe in your update? Lastly, is the radio located in the toolkit itself or in the stock image on the Google Developers page.

You also have to flash the recovery.img and radio to install JB update. radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img in short means XXLA2 radio.img here and both are same. The radio file is located in the stock image you must have downloaded. Anyways, I’ve uploaded it for your comfort. Download XXLA2 Radio.

This is a great tutorial and I’m in the middle of it. The first 2 sections were very easy, even on windows parallel 7 on the mac. Just wondering if copying all the files when the phone is connected to the computer is enough of a backup?

hey mayur just wanted to ask one thing , as i mentioned i am on jellyeans and everything is perfect, but i read i can relock the boatloader again. just wanted to ask how to do that ????? what are the positive points behind it and what are the negative ones??? and if i relock it will my data be wiped off ??

and after relocking the boatloader if i go to any phone shop and try to sell it can they find out that i flashed my phone or something ???
and yeah what is the differnce btw rooting and flashing or are they the same??? and which of the 2 voids warranty???

It’s NOT recommended to Lock the bootloader unless you need to return the device to store for repair (in warranty period). If your bootloader is locked, you CANNOT use fastboot commands. i.e. you cant flash new stock ROMs or any custom ROM. Also, if you lock it and later opt to unlock the bootloader then it will wipe everything, including /sdcard (Major drawback).

Shops wont be able to make it out if you’re running Stock ROM and the bootloader is locked. If you still want to lock it, then run the command fastboot oem lock using ‘Launch CMD Prompt’ section in toolkit.

well this was the first and last time i flashed my phone, i did this just to get the yakju built so that i get the updates as soon as google releases them !!! i never want to flash my phone with custom roms , i will always stick to the gogle released updates !!! if i relock the bootloader wont i get the direct updates from google ???? and r you referring this official jellybean update that i installed as “stock rom” ?????

I have upgraded to 4.04 using these directions and everything went great, thank you very much. BUT now I am trying to use the OTA to get JB and it will download but the installation always fails. I understand that I have to follow the updated information and flash the radio and the bootloader as well (have done it three times now), but it is still failing. Any idea what I could be doing wrong??

The update worked great with the OTA update to 4.4 available immediately. the only issue is that I have a problem with my camera. It does not save images. when I try to capture video the camera closes. It may be associated with the restore of data. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

In step 4 i downloaded the .tgz file. extracted the file and changed its extension to .zip. After unzipping this ZIP file i dont get the “image-yakju-imm76i.zip” as shown in the image. What seems to be the problem?

Thank u…worked like a charm, the only problem was that the program didn’t reboot my phone back into fastboot mode but i did it manualy so i could do the flashing steps.. Besides that it worked fine i flashed my gnex from yakjuxw to takju and recieved the update for jelly bean within seconds of turning my phone and wifi on…the risk paid off cause my hart was punding like hell during the proces of flashing cause i didn’t want to screw up my phone.. But thank u for the instructions in the end it was worth it..

Hi Mayur,
Nice tut. Great to see someone making the effort to help others out like this. Well done.
I have a question to try and clarify something because I think alot of people have been asking this but not being too specific about it.
When flashing do you need to reboot the phone after each ‘img’ file is added like this…
Click on the System option and select ‘system.img’ file from the folder yakju-imm76d.
(The flashing will start, wait until you see a finished notification in CMD)
Reboot device
Click on Userdata option and select ‘userdata.img’.
Reboot device
Click on Boot option and select ‘boot.img’.
Reboot device
Click on recovery and select ‘recovery.img’.
Reboot device
Click on Radio/Baseband option and select ‘radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img’.
Reboot device
Click on Bootloader option and select ‘bootloader-maguro-primela03.img’.
Then reboot device by selecting fastboot-bootloader and click on ‘Reboot Bootloader’.

Or are the ‘img’files flashed one after the other like this…
Click on the System option and select ‘system.img’ file from the folder yakju-imm76d.
(The flashing will start, wait until you see a finished notification in CMD)
Click on Userdata option and select ‘userdata.img’.
Click on Boot option and select ‘boot.img’.
Click on recovery and select ‘recovery.img’.
Click on Radio/Baseband option and select ‘radio-maguro-i9250xxla02.img’.
Click on Bootloader option and select ‘bootloader-maguro-primela03.img’.
Then reboot device by selecting fastboot-bootloader and click on ‘Reboot Bootloader’.

Also, how long does an average flash take? 10 mins..15mins…30mins?
Everyone here would be doing this to the Galaxy Nexus so I’m presuming the flash timings should be about the same for everyone. I’m asking this because in one of the above posts, someone mentioned that removing the battery helped (if the bootloader got stuck) but I wouldn’t want to try that unless I was sure that flashing was finished.
Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hi
I successfully updated my yakjujp(4.0.2) to yakju(4.0.4). Though the root toolkit got stuck a lot of times on my Win7. So I had to flash twice. After this, I was able to download the Jelly Bean using “System Updates”. The phone restarted but it failed to install Jelly bean. It restarted in ICS 4.0.4 and now i am not getting Jelly Bean update. Please help me on this. Thanks!

First time I flashed, my GNex did not restart. It was stuck on Google logo. Then I flashed again till boot.img it restarted properly. Then I did not flash the other images (Radio/bootloader etc.). Do you think I should flash these images again?
Thanks!

Hello i have a question, my google nexus s is flashed already and i have the update to android 4.0 do you think it will mess with my flash, i really want the update but i dont want my phone to to stop working and have to flash it again. Please help thanks

many thanks for this information , it worked a treat apart from one thing…

I’ve received the OTA to 4.1 Jelly Bean whilst on wifi at home last night but this morning now that i’ve left the house i’ve noticed I have no mobile data connection. I have a simple connection just to make calls but no connection to the internet. I’ve checked that mobile data is on and it it but still nothing even after a reboot.

This is one of the easiest walkthroughs I could online for updating yakjuxw to yakju, and I got my Galaxy Nexus updated to 4.0.4 thanks to you. I faced the problem you have mentioned in Update 3 above while trying to upgrade to 4.1.1, and flashed the radio and bootloader to the updated files. I am still getting the red triangle error (with the robot on his back) while trying to install the 4.1.1 OTA update. Do you have any idea why? I have downloaded the update thrice since re-flashing.

Hi Mayur i accidently flash a wrong file (system) to bootloader and now the phone stuck at bootscren and cant start properly.i tried to recover back by Flash stock + Unroot but still failed.the nexus rootkit wont recognize my device anymore.Please help :'(

Its me again.
Im very sry to trouble you again.i just wanna ask you,after done all the step and on jellybean,izit possible for me to install the Clockwork Mod Recovery?Im interested to try this theme http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1741224 and it required to install the Clockwork Mod Recovery.

Got my Nexus today. Updating it to YAKJU from YAKJUJP. Just one Question:

I have Build: IMM76K Ver: 4.0.4
The thing is, whenever I install any “Root Toolkit” My Phone’s Build is mentioned under “CDMA/LTE Verizon” Model.
I am from Pakistan and I am using a GSM network.
Which one should I select ? Does this effect in anyway during the installation ?

I usually never get back to an article/tutorial after using it.
But this one is like, EPIC!
Worked Flawlessly. Was quite afraid to test it on my YAKJUJP, as it was just one day old.
Thank god I did it 🙂
Enjoying JellyBean now!
Thanks a ton!

Hey Mayur I just followed the steps required to get the OTA update to 4.1.1 Jelly bean and was restoring my data using the restore button but the whole process stops halfway at com.hotmail.Z7 any suggestions why this happens? Its been on that same data for the past half an hour. Thanks

Thanks a lot for your guide. It worked!! One funny thing kept happening to my phone though, after each flash it would reboot! After flashing the userdata it would hang while booting. Struggled for a while until I figured out how to boot into fastboot mode using the buttons. Really appreciate your guide!! Thanks!!

hi guys .. i just updated my nexus to yakju … now im on jelly bean .. let’s say it’s really faster and more smoother .. but i really facing some problems … 1. battery drains so fast .(despite i use battery saver app ,and task killer) 2. sometimes it reboot it self ! .. any help guys ?
also i sense i made a mistake while installing .. while im deleting the cach …if so can i delete the cach withut loosing the os ? … last thing .. can i now close the bood loader again ?

I’v been having non stop issues with this iv spent the last 6 hours trying to get this to work….ugh! I’m currently trying to flash the system.img, it looks like it finishes, it does not pop up with a CMD saying it is finished though, and my phone sits at the Google screen with an unlock at the bottom. I’v tried time and time again to get this to work and my phone wont even turn on…i really dont get what im doing wrong im following this guide to the letter, although i do have a newer version than the one used in this guide…any help would be muchly appreciated

hey i have Galaxy Nexus i got it imported from Saudi and it is not getting up dated i do get the notification but its not getting updated 4.0.4 and its stuck at 4.0.2 . it dose complete the down lode and then it asks for a re install k and when i say yes it dos re boot and half way through the android bot just fall down with a red warning sign (an ! ) .any info is helpful product :yakju (maguro) but the radio say (radio : unknown ) is that a prob i dont know ?. I am the only person in my friends circle who has this hand set ! its very frustrating to see the update msg every? once in 2 day and i cant do anything about it !

When the phone shows red warning (Recovery mode), press the power and both volume up + down keys. You’ll then see some options in blue, do a factory reset and wipe cache from there. Then try updating via OTA update. If that doesn’t works then download the Android 4.1.1 Yakju factory image and flash all the files manually. It should work.

I am stuck on 4.0.2, when i check for update via OTA, it download 41.2Mb then it restart for installation but that’s where the problem starts, it stucks on laying down android logo with red exclamation mark our it, it restart and there is no version update it says 4.0.2 yet again. i have tried many time without luck.

Had anybody came across this kind of problem ? and will doing above process will solve my problem.

Thanks for informative Post.It helped me and goes simply everything done in well manner.I have one question that I don’t need to lock my bootloader again. Tell Me about locking and unlocking of bootloaders.

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